DAY 9 Last Day in Bejing

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Up early once again to squeeze every possible thing into our 3 day trip in Bejing.
We checked out of our hotel and headed to the Temple of Heaven for a tour and a bit of exercise. The locals congregate around the park near the temple and play games and exercise. This is not only a way for the Chinese to exercise in the fresh air but to also socialize. Many come here in the early mornings. On our way into the temple, I stopped and did a few moves with a group that were not performing tai chi like most, but they were certainly getting their groove on VERY SLOWLY... lucky for me!

The Temple of Heaven was the place where earth is signified by square shapes communicated with heaven signified by the rounded top. We strolled through its halls and Brentley landed on top of the Round Altar, the site of the annual winter solstice sacrifice. This is where the emperor would perform the annual winter solstice sacrifice of a young bullock. The grounds holds the Imperial Vault of Heaven used to store ceremonial equipment, a perfectly circular Echo Wall where one can whisper on one side of the area and someone on the other side can hear them clearly. I need one of these at home for Brentley when I give him his chore assignments!

After the Temple of Heaven we made a quick stop at the silk museum and learned about silk making then we headed to the Great Wall. On our way to the Wall we stopped at a cloisionne factory and learned how the artists create this work of art. Had lunch at the factory and then THE GREAT WALL.

The Great Wall was originally a series of disparate earthen ramparts built by individual states, it was only after the unification of China under Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BC) was the Great Wall created. Of course the Great Wall never achieved the protection it was designed for, the wall was breached in the 13th century by the Mongols and then in the 17th century by the Manchu.

We climbed from the bottom to the top and went along the wall stopping in various watchtowers where in the Ming area these served as signal towers, storerooms, forts and living quarters for soldiers. The view is incredible!

Once we were finished on the wall, we took a luge-like tobaggan down the hill to the base where we met Susie and our driver. Once on the road it was time to head to the airport for our trip back to Shanghai. When we arrived we took the 2nd fastest bullet train in the world to the Longyan Road. About a 20 minute trip in 7 minutes flat! The German-built "magnetically levitated" train travels from the airport to Shanghai's eastern suburb.

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